the WWC series
by Paragon Dragon
Summary: Series of oneshots written for the Weekly Writing Challenges on NFA. Characters, pairings, ratings and categories/genres will vary with each chapter. See chapter header for specifics. WWC #7 and #10 are now up!
1. I don't think that was meant to happen

**Disclaimer: **NCIS and all of its characters belongs to its rightful owners. I don't make any money out of my writing. It is strictly for entertainment only. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Title:** It should have been me  
**WWC: **#1, _I don't think that was meant to happen_  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Parings:** none  
**Characters:** Tony  
**Genres:** Dark  
**Warnings:** death fic, minor spoilers.  
**Summary:** It was never meant to happen, but yet it did.

*****

I don't think that was meant to happen. Looking back at that that day, I'm positive that that was never meant to happen, but yet it did. It was like fate had decided to take the day off just to see what would happen, and that cost us our boss.

I should have been the one to die. I _know _that I am the one who should have died. If he had let me go like I said I would, he would have been alive now. He would be alive and I would have been dead, like I'm supposed to be. He wasn't even killed in the line of duty. He was killed by a fucking truck driven by a reckless, drunk driver. The truck that had been meant for me.

Ducky told us afterwards that he had died instantly, like that would change anything. Abby is a mess. Nothing and no one can console her. The others are looking to me for guidance. I am the leader now. I am supposed to know what to do. What to say. How to act.

I can't. It was one thing when he left for Mexico because then we knew that he was still alive. Now it's different. Now he won't come back. But I have no choice. I can't leave them. He wouldn't have wanted me to leave them just like that. But he was the one who was supposed to lead them on.

I was never meant to happen like that.


	2. Drabbles

**Title:** Random Drabbles**  
WWC #:** 2  
**Rating:** PG  
**Parings:** Any, see A/N  
**Characters:** the team  
**Genre:** romance, fluff, dark, and possibly a few more.  
**Warnings:** none  
**Summary:** Five standalone drabbles written for the WWC #2

**Prompts:** 1) blanket, 2) late, 3) emotion, 4) captured, 5) stereo

**A/N:** I'm going to be mean and let you decide for yourselves what pairings there are in these drabbles, if any. The last one is completely 100% gen, I can tell you that much, but the pairings/characters I had in mind for the other four will be a secret.

* * *

I don't think I've ever felt so safe before, laying in his arms like this, listening to his heartbeats. They are strong and steady, just like him. He calls me his special safety blanket and I smile at that. I was almost offended by it when he first called me that, but he explained that he meant that I keep him warm at night. I keep his nightmares away. Now I don't mind it anymore. I like it. It's one of those special things we share. He plants a kiss on my temple and I snuggle close. I love him.

* * *

I wonder where he is taking me. We've been walking for quite some time now. He's a few steps ahead of me and I can make out his dark, almost black silhouette against our somewhat lighter surroundings. I can hardly see where I'm going but he doesn't slow down, he just tells me to keep up. Where the heck can he possibly take me in the woods in the middle of the night? It's late and I'm tired. Suddenly I see light ahead of us. I catch up with him and he gives me a smile. I should have known.

* * *

I pull her against me and she rests her head on my shoulder. She's crying and the only thing I can do is to be there for her. There's nothing I can do to make the pain go away. My own emotions are trying to overwhelm me. Fear. Anger. Sorrow. It's all whirling around inside me. I want to cry too but I can't. I just wrap my arms around her as her tears flow. I glare at the two in front of us, those who killed him before our eyes. I swear to her that I'll put them away.

* * *

_You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride. You have captured my heart with just one look._ Those are the words that comes to mind every time I look upon her, and every time she smiles at me. I don't know where I've got the words from. I guess I have read them somewhere and then they just stuck, but they kind of describe what I feel. I'm not even sure if that's the original words, but I don't care. I guess it doesn't matter. I wonder if she would accept if I asked her out for dinner sometimes?

* * *

Whose brilliant idea was it to buy me one of these things? They know fully well that I would never use it. I don't even know how it works, and the manual is nothing but gibberish. I would have appreciated a hand tool, but a _stereo_? Do they really think I'm in need of a stereo? And why did they have to go and buy the most advanced they could find? I'll never figure this thing out. I should have accepted McGee's offer. He would have set this up for me in no time at all. I'll ask him tomorrow.

* * *

A/N 2: The two first sentences in the fourth drabble are something I heard in a Swedish movie the other day and then translated.

**Comments are welcome  
**


	3. First Person POV

**Title:** You didn't screw up  
**WWC #: **3  
**Rating:** PG  
**Parings:** none  
**Characters:** Tony, Gibbs  
**Genres:** gen, other than that, I'm not really sure  
**Warnings:** mild spoilers considering the boat in S5 through S6  
**Summary:** Tony shows up at Gibbs place late at night, not knowing really what brought him there.

**A/N: **Originally written with a second person POV, but since that is not allowed here I changed it to first person POV for this site.

* * *

I am sitting on the bottom step in the basement, a cup half filled with bourbon in my hands. I'm not completely sure of why I', there, I haven't even given Gibbs a real reason to show up at his house at this hour. None of us have said anything since I arrived, except when Gibbs asked me if I wanted some bourbon and I accepted, right after I stepped through his door. Besides that, not a word has been exchanged between us.

I take a sip of the strong liquor and glance over at Gibbs. He is completely focused on the work he's currently doing on the cabin of his boat. It looks like it's almost finished now. The boat itself has been finished since months back, and since it's not in the basement anymore, I'm wondering how the hell he got it out. I wonder if I could ask him, but I decide not to. I'm not even sure if Gibbs would tell me anyway.

"You gonna sit there all night, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asks without taking his eyes off or pausing what he's doing, making me snap out of my thoughts.

"I don't know, Boss", I say honestly after a moment of thought and take another sip from my cup. "Why, do you want me to leave?"

"Your choice, DiNozzo."

I pull my lips up in a dry smile but become serious just as fast again. I'm seriously considering to leave, but I find that I can't make myself put down the cup and stand up and walk away, so I stop trying and accept that I'm not going anywhere soon. I don't even know if I really want to walk away. Something made e go to Gibbs tonight, but I don't want to face the real reason just yet, so I just sigh and stare down into the cup, the silence settling between us once again.

"Hey, come here."

I look up at Gibbs again, hesitating for just a moment before I stand up and slowly walk over to him. He stands up from the stool he has been sitting on and pushes me down on it, taking my cup from me before putting a tool in my hands, and while standing behind me with his hands on mine, he shows me how to use it.

"Nice, light strokes, Tony", he says softly in my ear and I can feel his approval when I do as I'm told after he has let go. "Thats it", he continues a few moments later. "Keep that up."

I give him an affirmative nod and focus on the task at hand, barely taking notice of Gibbs moving away from me and stepping over to the work bench. I am filled with a bit of pride that he trusts me enough to let me help and I make sure that I'm careful so that I don't damage the cabin. It's far from as easy as sanding, but I still find that this kind of work isn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I let myself get lost in it.

A hand on my shoulder brings me back to reality and I blink in surprise when I feel Gibbs take the tool away from me.

"You did good, Tony", he says with a rare smile and puts the tool away.

"Thanks, Boss", I reply and stand up, stretching my stiff back and shoulders. I look down at the cabin and carefully run my fingers over the spot I worked on. The wood feels smooth under my fingers, but I figure that it still needs some sanding too. Just a little.

"I couldn't save him, Boss", I say then, even though I didn't plan to. The words just popped out of my mouth before I could stop them. They probably needed to be said.

"You tried", Gibbs says and I look up to meet his eyes.

"I should have tried harder", I retort. "If I had done things differently he would have been alive now."

"You don't know that, DiNozzo. No one does."

"I do, Boss. If I hadn't...." My voice trails off and I look away. I know that Gibbs is right, I just don't want to admit it yet. "I screwed up, didn't I, Boss?".

"You didn't screw up", Gibbs says. "You made the wrong choices, but you didn't screw up. Trust me, I know. Come on. You can sleep on the couch tonight."

I open my mouth to protest, but a glare from Gibbs stops m so instead I just silently follow him up the stairs. I think about what Gibbs has said and decide that he is right, so I take a deep breath and start to prepare myself to move on. Maybe I won't do it right away, but I will eventually. I just have to take it one step at the time.

Gibbs hands me a blanket and some pillows, then he shows me to the couch. As soon as I lay my eyes on it I feel how tired I am. Sleep suddenly sounds like a very good idea.

"See you tomorrow, Tony", Gibbs say and before I can reply he has left to go to his own bedroom. I sigh and then I make myself comfortable on the couch. Sleep doesn't come easy to me, but when it does it is free of dreams and it allows me to rest undisturbed by nightmares.

I will get my share of those, but not tonight.

-

-

-

**The End**


	4. Did they or didn't they?

**Title: **Did you lock the door?  
**WWC: **#4 - Did they or didn't they?  
**Pairing: **Tony/Abby**  
Rating: **G**  
Genre: **het  
**Warnings: **none  
**Summary: **Did Tony really lock the door, or did he forget?

---

"Tony, did you remember to lock the door?"

Tony opened his mouth to answer, but then he hesitated and wrinkled his brow. Had he locked the door? He was sure he must have. Locking the door was something he did automatically, but he couldn't really recall doing it. But that didn't mean that he hadn't done it. Right?

"Um, yeah, sure I did", he said without much conviction and kept his eyes on the road, not wanting to meet Abby's eyes right now.

"Tony! Didn't you check?"

"Of course I did. I know I did."

"But you're not sure?"

"Well, um... I'm not 100, but..."

"Tony, we have to turn back and check!"

"Abby, we're almost at work. We'll be late if we turn around now."

"Do you want someone to barge in and steal all of our things?"

"Of course I don't, but..."

"So turn around!"

Tony looked over at Abby and saw by the look she gave him that she'd already made up her mind and there was no chance in Hell he'd be able to get out of this.

"Yes, dear", he said with a sigh, but winced when Abby suddenly gave him a hard punch to the shoulder. "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"You know why", Abby replied and gave him a dark glare. "Now shut up and drive."

Tony opened his mouth to retort but thought better of it and turned the car around, hoping that it turned out that he had locked the door, and that Gibbs would buy his excuse to why they were late. Maybe he could come up with a good lie?

-

-

**The End**


	5. Play list

**Title: **What Tony listens to after a stressful day**  
WWC: **#5 - play list, #9 - catch up on missed challenges  
**Rating: **G  
**Pairing: **none  
**Character:** Tony  
**Category:** gen  
**Warnings: **none  
**Summary:** Tony comes home from work and puts on the music that helps him relax

---

Man, what a day. One of the worst in weeks. Stress levels had been through the roof for all of them and Tony was nothing but relieved that the case was closed. He shrugged off his jacket, threw the cap up in the hat shelf and dumped his wallet and keys on the small table by the door before heading straight to the living room. He shuffled through his stacks of CDs and chose a couple with Sinatra. He put them all into his stereo, put it on shuffle and then pressed play, letting the soft music fill the apartment.

He smiled when he recognized the first song and sang along to it while he headed to his bedroom to get rid of his clothes.

"_And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Jilly loves you more than you will know. Wo ho ho. Oh, bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson. Heaven holds a place for those who pray. Hey hey hey. Hey hey hey."_

He'd always like that one. He felt the last bit of stress leave him as he removed his clothes, threw them in the hamper and them walked to the bathroom for a long, hot shower_. _He had longed for one all day and he would definitely take his time.

When Tony came out from the bathroom, a towel wrapped securely around his waist, he listened for what song was playing now and groaned when he heard that it was _Love and Marriage_. He admitted that it was a little funny, but it also proved that the view of love and marriage had changed a whole lot since Sinatra's days. Still he hummed along to the happy tune while he changed into sweats and walked out to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

The song changed again and this time it was one of Tony's favorites. A smile split his face and once again he added his voice to Sinatra's, moving in time with the song as he fixed himself some sandwiches. "_Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, baby, kiss me..._"

Tony took the sandwiches to the living room and flopped down on the couch. He thought of putting on a movie but changed his mind and decided to just sit back, relax and listen to the music. He finished the sandwiches and put the empty plate on the coffee table before making himself more comfortable on the couch. After some time he felt his eyes droop and even though he said to himself that he would just rest his eyes for a while, he soon fell asleep to the tones of _the Lady is a Tramp._

When Tony woke up again it was almost 1 o'clock in the morning. He groaned and sat up, grimacing when he felt the crick in his neck. He rubbed it as he yawned, and then he noticed that the music was still playing. It took some time before he recognized the song that was currently on and gave out a soft snort when he heard which it was: _Bad, bad Leroy Brown. _He listened to the rest of it while he thought of how like Gibbs the man in the song was. Maybe not in all aspects, but there were _some_ similarities.

When the song was over, Tony turned off the stereo and stretched his stiff body. Yawning widely he went back to the bedroom, stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed. He was just about to set his alarm when he remembered that they had the next day off and let himself settle back with a deep sigh. A few seconds later he was asleep.

-

-

-

**The End**


	6. Romance

**Title:** Happy Anniversary**  
****WWC # 7**: Romance**  
Rating: **PG-13**  
Pairing: **McNozzo**  
Characters: **Tony and Tim**  
Genre: **fluff, romance (and possibly sap)**  
Warnings: **slash**  
Summary: **It's Tony's and Tim's first year anniversary as a couple and Tony is preparing a nice surprise for Tim.

---

Tony took a couple of steps back to critically inspect his work. Was it too much? Too little? Tony didn't know. He'd never really done any of these sort of things before, and he was starting to get a little anxious, panicked even, but now there was no more time to change anything.

Tony hurried back to the kitchen to check on the roast and the potato wedges in the oven. He'd secretly been taking cooking classes and this was the first time he'd put them to a test at home, at least in an obvious way such as this. The food still looked good, and by all the praise he'd received in class he knew he wasn't a complete screw-up when it came to cooking, but this wasn't something he made for his class. This was way bigger than that.

Tony glanced at the watched and saw that if he hurried he would have time to take a quick shower and change into something nicer than the sweat pants and t-shirt he was wearing under the apron. He dashed to the bathroom ripped off his clothes and jumped into the shower, scrubbing himself all over as quickly and thoroughly as possible, using a fancy, nice smelling soap he'd bought earlier that day for this occasion. Once he was perfectly clean he stepped out of the shower, rubbed himself down with a towel and went to the bedroom to change. A few moments later he gave himself a once-over in front of the mirror and smiled at the image. No question about it, he was hot. And now, all he had to do was to prepare the last minute things. And wait.

---

When Tim came home he could immediately tell that something was out of the ordinary. The first thing he noticed was that no Jethro was coming to greet him. Normally the big Shepherd was waiting for him in the hall even before he'd got the door open, barking and whining with joy, but now he couldn't even hear any sounds that the dog was even there. Then he noticed that the leash was missing from its normal place and for a second he thought that Tony just had taken him for a walk, but then he saw that the coat Tony used when he walked Jethro still hung on its hook by the door. Odd.

Other things were different too. The light seemed _warmer_ somehow than it used to be. More golden. He could hear soft music playing on the stereo in the living room and the smell of newly cooked food came drifting to him, making his stomach rumble. A smile crept onto his lips when he figured that Tony must have a surprise in store for him and couldn't wait to figure out what it was.

"Tony?" he called as he shrugged off his jacket and hung it in the closet. "Are you there?"

"Just a second!" Tony's voice replied and a moment later he came out from the kitchen, a wide, warm grin splitting his face in half at the sight of the other man as he came walking towards him.

Tim couldn't help but stare. Tony looked absolutely gorgeous! He was wearing the dark green, silk shirt and black, tight jeans Tim loved to see him in and his hair was a spiky, sexy mess. Tim felt a sudden urge to grab Tony and pull him into the bedroom, but he had a feeling that that wasn't what Tony had in mind, at least not yet, so he forced himself to be patient.

"Tony, what..." Tim began but was cut off when Tony pulled him in and devoured his mouth in a deep, loving kiss.

"Happy anniversary, Tim", he said when they broke apart and gave Tim a look so full of love that his heart melted.

"Is that today?" Tim asked and gave Tony a surprised look.

"Yeah. One year today."

"I.. I didn't know", Tim stuttered embarrassedly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be", Tony said. "I didn't know until a week ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to see if you'd figure it out by yourself. And I also wanted to surprise you."

Tony suddenly seemed a little nervous about something and Tim linked fingers with him to tell him that whatever it was, it'd be okay. He saw Tony taking a deep breath and then he was lead towards the dining room.

Tim gaped when he saw the beautifully set table. A crispy white table cloth that hung almost all the way to the floor covered it, and there was lit candles and flowers in a simple arrangement on the top. A bottle of fine, white wine was sitting in the center of the table and Tim smiled when he saw the label. It was his favorite. But what really caught his eyes was the food. There was a platter with a deliciously looking roast beef, half of it cut in paper thin slices, a bowl filled with golden, steaming potato wedges, another one filled with a nice, tossed salad, and there was also a smaller bowl with some kind of sauce. Everything looked delicious and Tim couldn't wait to tray it.

"You made this?" Tim said in amazement and turned to Tony, who smiled almost shyly and gave him a nod. "But when did you..."

"When did I learn how to cook?" Tony filled in and laughed when Tim actually blushed. "Remember all those nights I said that I went to that movie club?" Tim nodded. "Well, actually, I was taking cooking classes."

"Cooking classes? You've been taking cooking classes?"

"Yeah. The teacher says I've got talent."

"I can see that. This looks absolutely delicious."

"Don't say anything more until you've actually tried it", Tony warned. "I've never made anything like this before."

"I'm sure it will taste great, Tony. I know it will. By the way, where's Jethro?"

"With Ziva. I wanted him out of the way tonight. I want you all to myself."

"Good thinking."

Tim pulled Tony in for another kiss and grinned on the inside when he heard the low moan emerge deep from Tony's throat. For a second he once again considered skipping dinner and dragging Tony straight to bed, but his stomach didn't want to hear of it and started to protest. Loudly.

"Sounds to me we better put some food in you soon", Tony said with a teasing smile.

"I think so, too", Tim replied. "I'm starving."

"Well, in that case..."

Tony steered Tim to his seat and pulled out the chair for him with a bow. Tim shook his head at him with a laugh but sat down and let Tony serve him some food. He felt his mouth start to water and couldn't wait to taste it, but he forced himself to wait until Tony had served himself too.

The food was more delicious than he thought it would be and he couldn't help but to close his eyes to really savor it. The meat was juicy and tender, the wedges were perfectly cooked and the salad and sauce went perfectly with both. What amazed the most was that it was Tony who had cooked it all. _Tony! _The one who rather spent money on take-out rather than cooking his own meals.

"God, Tony, this is so good", Tim said with a content sigh and lit a spark of pure delight in Tony's eyes.

"You really think so?" he asked.

"Yeah. You're a great cook. Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I didn't want to jinx it, and I really wanted to surprise you with something special today. You really like it?"

"I love it."

Tony grinned at him before stuffing his own mouth. He had kept himself from eating until he was sure that it would pass Tim's judgment. He had already tasted the food while he cooked it and had even surprised himself by how good it was, but then he'd still been nervous of how Tim would think, especially since it was all done for him. The last bit of anxiety disappeared in a flash and soon they were teasing and bantering back and forth like they often did during meals while they jumped from one topic to the next. After both had eaten as much as they wanted, Tony sent Tim straight to the living room with the rest of the wine while he cleared the table. Tim had wanted to help but Tony didn't want to hear of it so Tim had no other choice but to comply.

"Here comes dessert, Timmy", Tony said when he returned a few minutes later, carrying two plates holding a large piece of cake each.

"Don't tell me you made that too", Tim said and gave Tony a disbelieving look.

"No, this I've bought from the new bakery down the street", Tony replied. "Cooking is one thing, but I learned pretty early that I've got no talent for baking. That I leave to the experts."

"Okay. So what kind of cake is it?"

Tony cut off a piece of his own cake and offered it to Tim. "Try it."

Tim opened his mouth to let Tony feed him and couldn't help but closing his eyes when the wonderful taste of rich, dark chocolate mixed with white chocolate filled his mouth.

"God, Tony. You're spoiling me", he mumbled.

"Thought you might like it."

"This cake must have cost you a fortune."

"It might have cost me a little more than I had expected, but you're worth it."

Tony fed Tim another bite and then he captured his lover's mouth in a long, deep, chocolate flavored kiss. When they broke apart, faces flushed and lips kissed swollen, they were both smiling goofily at each other again. Tony tangled his fingers with Tim's .

"I love you, Tim", he said somberly with and looked Tim deep in the eyes.

"I love you, too."

After they'd finished the cake and wine, Tony suddenly noticed a mischievous gleam that had sneaked into Tim's eyes. Tim stood up and without a word he offered his hand to Tony, who took it and let himself be pulled to his feet.

"Why do I have a feeling that you're up to something?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"Maybe because I am", Tim replied and pulled Tony closer by his belt. "You've spoiled me so much tonight, Tony. Now it's my turn."

"Yeah? Am I going to like it?"

"I'm sure you will."

Tim leaned in closer and whispered sensuously into Tony's ear. Tony felt his eyes go wider at what Tim was telling him and his heart started to thump harder and faster as hot blood rushed south.

"You'd do that?" he asked when Tim pulled away.

"It's only fair, don't you think? Besides, it's the only way I can think of to repay you for tonight. You deserve it, Tony.

Happy anniversary."

**The End**


	7. 10 things you didn't know about

**Title:** 10 things you didn't know about Anthony D. DiNozzo  
**Rating:** PG  
**Parings:** none  
**Characters:** Tony  
**Genres:** um... humor?  
**Warnings:** maybe some minor spoiler or two, somewhere in there.  
**Summary:** see title

* * *

1. He's not only scared of rats, he's also scared of snakes.

2. He didn't start liking jazz until college when he shared a room with a guy who was obsessed with the music and got him hooked.

3. On the contrary to popular beliefs he doesn't only live on takeouts. He can cook, and is fairly good at it. He just prefers not to.

4. Even though he acts like he doesn't, Tony does like cats, but he thinks it would spoil his image to actually admit it.

5. When he was six years old his father considered sending him to a boarding school in England, but luckily his mother talked him out of it.

6. The D in his name stands for Daedalus.

7. He'd never admit it but he sometimes likes to watch Disney.

8. Once he had a crush on his high school Math teacher.

9. Once he tried out for a role in a school play to impress a girl.

10. When he was a kid his mom forced him to participate in the church choir.

* * *

Absolutely silly and not supposed to be taken seriously. Just so you know.


End file.
